


I Think I Love You

by NoSleepUntilVacation



Series: I Want My MTT [9]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Fear, Nervousness, Other, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 04:04:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16967319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoSleepUntilVacation/pseuds/NoSleepUntilVacation
Summary: "...so what am I so afraid of? I'm afraid that I'm not sure of, a love there is no cure for. I think I love you; isn't that what life is made of? Though it worries me to say, that I've never felt this way..."As much as you don’t want to admit it to yourself… it’s possible that you may love Mettaton.And good god, if there was ever a thought that could be so unsettling and so exciting at the same time, this would be it.





	I Think I Love You

**Author's Note:**

> A Tumblr anon wanted a Mettaton/Reader fic where the reader wants to be in a relationship with Mettaton, but is scared of the emotional openness (despite wanting it), and the two eventually agree to take it slow. This was a little tricky for me to write; I hope I pulled it off well.
> 
> Also, in case you couldn't tell, I had the song "I Think I Love You" by The Partridge Family stuck in my head while writing this.

One of the absolute worst feelings in the world is wanting something so badly while being utterly terrified of it at the same time. Unfortunately, you’ve become more and more familiar with this sensation recently.

For your entire life, you’ve been a very private person. The thought of opening up to people feels so liberating, but you’ve always been afraid of actually doing it. You would be trusting someone with some of your greatest weaknesses; what if things between you and this person go sour one day, and they end up using your weaknesses against you? Or what if they end up teasing you about it without realizing just how touchy it is to you?

Because of this, you’ve only had a small handful of close friends in your life, and you’ve never even had a romantic relationship. For the longest time, you’ve tried to tell yourself that this arrangement was perfectly fine.

And then _he_ became a big name in your life.

You definitely hadn’t expected to ever become close to a celebrity before; if you ever did, you’d figured it would probably be because one of your friends became famous (with you being one of the people who knew them before they made it big). But so many things happened - a chance meeting here, a phone call there, a few interactions on social media in the interim - and before you knew it, you’d started bonding with the biggest celebrity in all of monsterkind.

It had certainly been quite confusing to you. Weren’t celebrities supposed to spend their time hanging out with other celebrities, being mysterious and inaccessible to the common people? Celebrities don’t just randomly strike up legitimate friendships with everyday people who live unassuming lives… do they?

Apparently, Mettaton either didn’t get the memo or he didn’t care.

Whatever the circumstances may have been, he had sure seemed to enjoy your company; in fact, he still does. He’s opened up to you about things that you’re sure only his closest friends and family members know about.

Wouldn’t it just be amazing if you could do the same?

The two of you have been friends for quite some time now, and in the past few weeks, a certain thought has been gnawing at your brain. You’ve been doing all you can to try to silence it, but it just keeps getting louder and louder.

As much as you don’t want to admit it to yourself… it’s possible that you may love Mettaton.

And good god, if there was ever a thought that could be so unsettling and so exciting at the same time, this would be it.

It’s not that you don’t like the man - if you didn’t like him, you probably would have stopped talking to him a long time ago. The two of you have gotten along well in all your months of friendship, with nothing worse to report than the occasional disagreements. Going by the subtle ways he lets himself relax around you, it’s clear that he really does like you and isn’t just trying to get something from you.

But there comes a point in certain relationships - especially romantic ones - where the parties involved are expected to tell each other _everything,_ and secrets are only acceptable when you’re trying to surprise the other person with a gift or something similar.

It’s a high-risk, high-reward situation. If you let your guard down around someone and they accept you as you are (while possibly working with you to address things like bad habits), you’re well on your way to becoming a happier person.

If you’re not accepted, though… even just the thought of that situation makes you want to fortify your walls.

Even as the rest of you wants to remove them brick-by-brick.

* * *

Mettaton may have made a number of goofs when running his old resort underground (as you learned from stories he personally told you), but on the whole, he is not an unintelligent man. He’s good at reading people - it must be that acting experience.

And this comes to bite you when you accept his most recent offer of a hangout.

It’s nothing overly fancy; you’re just spending the afternoon at his house. (At least one thing seems to be going right; if he’d taken you out in public, you’d be under even worse pressure than ever to play it cool.) He’s brought out some classic board games, as he’s done at least a few times before. Most times, you’re easily able to go toe-to-toe with him in these games.

This, however, is not most times. Your hands are a little shaky as you move your game pieces, and sometimes you almost don’t even notice when it’s your move. Eventually, it even descends to the point where you make a couple of rookie mistakes.

And he notices.

“Darling,” he says upon winning one game, “is everything all right?”

You try to stay calm - _he calls everyone “darling”, he probably doesn’t mean it in_ that _way, it’s possible he doesn’t even like you like that_ \- and take a deep breath. “Y-yeah, everything’s fine! I’m just… kinda thirsty.”

_And the award for least convincing explanation goes to…!_

“But you just had a glass of water not too long ago, sweetheart.” He seems to notice the little ways in which you’re tensing up right now; the look on his face grows concerned. “…There’s something on your mind, isn’t there?”

Oh, no. He’s onto you. And aside from not being unintelligent, Mettaton is also not the kind of man to give up on things easily. You know he’s not going to buy it for a second if you say no, so you just end up nodding.

He stands up and walks over to your side of the table. “Come with me, beautiful.” You can barely even think as he leads you over to his plush couch and sits down with you. “Would you like to talk to me about it?”

After a few seconds, during which the different sides of your conscience battle it out, you finally work up the nerve to bring it up. “Promise you won’t freak out?”

“You have my word.”

Well… there’s no going back now. You take a few more deep breaths before finally admitting it to his face.

“Mettaton… I think…” Your voice grows a little quieter and your throat a little tighter, but you still somehow manage to get the words out. “I think I’m in love with you.”

The silence afterwards is very brief, but it’s almost suffocating.

His eyes seem to widen a little and his mouth forms an “oh” shape before he finally breaks the silence. “…Is that so?”

You nod. “And - the thing is… I don’t know how to feel about it.” In stark contrast to just a moment prior, your filter seems to switch itself off. “I mean, it’s not you specifically that I’m afraid of; it’s just, I’ve never felt this way about anyone else before, and the thought of dating someone feels really great, but also… kind of scary.”

As you tremble a bit, reeling from the disbelief that you’ve just confessed your feelings, you feel a smooth hand resting on top of your own.

“You’re worried about letting your guard down, aren’t you?”

When he notices the surprised look in your eyes, he just gives you a knowing grin as he answers your silent question. “I’m a celebrity, darling. My fans expect me to be the image of perfection all the time.” His grin wavers a bit. “If they found out about some of the more questionable ways I’ve treated certain people in my life…”

Indeed, you can still remember his stories of his more fallible times, and how he’s trying to change his ways. The fact that he trusts you with the knowledge that he’s made mistakes, and that he’s a person just like you… but at the same time, his words strike a different nerve.

“Well… you’re still a celebrity. I’m not even famous.” You look down. “I don’t want to make you look stupid in front of the paparazzi or whatever… I can’t afford to buy you expensive gifts…”

“And that’s perfectly all right, sweetheart.” He rests a hand on your shoulder. “I appreciate the thought behind a gift more than the price tag - it’s something I sort of _have_ to do, considering I’m easily the richest person in my circle of friends.” He chuckles a bit. “As for the paparazzi? I’ve learned to stop caring about what they think. So many of them would rather focus on celebrities’ flaws, or what _they_ consider to be flaws. If they don’t like my tastes in music and fashion, then that’s their problem, not mine.”

Silence fills the room for a little while longer as you try to gather your thoughts. For some reason, this confession is getting easier and easier.

“It’s just… I want to be accepted for everything about me. Even if other people can’t understand why I’m scared of some things, I still want them to at least respect it instead of making fun of me, or telling me it’s no big deal, or trying to make me get over it before I’m ready…”

You feel his arms wrap around you and gently hold you. “I promise I won’t criticize your fears, darling. My cousin Napstablook is often afraid of being the center of attention, and even though they’ve been growing more confident, I still don’t want to force the issue. They’ll take center stage when they’re ready.”

While part of you is almost tempted to fire back with _do you even know some of the things I’m afraid of?_ , his tone of voice feels so sincere, and this combined with everything else makes you gently return his hug in silence. The two of you stay like that for a little while before he speaks up once more.

“You know, darling… I truly enjoy having you around.” He has a warm smile on his face. “I love playing board games with you, and listening to music, and even just sitting and talking. To be quite honest… I think I’m in love with you, too.”

“R-really…?”

He nods. “I feel like you really understand me, beautiful. Like you understand Mettaton the person, and not just Mettaton the celebrity. You make me feel so safe…”

You can hardly believe what you’re hearing. He hasn’t known you for as long as he’s known some of the other people in his life, and yet he trusts you this much?

One of his hands trails downward and gently holds yours. “And I want you to feel safe with me. I won’t make you go any further than you’re willing to go. You just mean so much to me, sweetie…”

You tighten your own grip on his hand. “Thank you so much, Mettaton… I’m just… not ready to be completely open about everything. It’s nothing personal; I’m just not used to the thought of being so open.”

“You take as long as you need to, beautiful.” He looks down with a smile. “I don’t mind waiting, as long as it means you’re as comfortable as possible.”

“Thank you…” you repeat.

By the time the two of you go back to the table to play some more board games, your heart feels just a little more free than it did when you started. And Mettaton, who used to make you both so excited and so nervous, is starting to feel like a safe haven.

Love can be a scary thing, and sometimes you just don’t know what you’re up against, but if you can just take it little by little, removing each brick in your walls one by one, you know in your heart that you’ll come out of it a much happier person.

**Author's Note:**

> https://nosleepuntilvacation.tumblr.com/


End file.
